Job Growth Nearly Stalled in August

The labor market just turned in another weak month — and the summer slowdown looks even worse after revisions. The U.S. added only 22,000 jobs in August, far below expectations, while June was revised into the red with a net loss of 13,000. That marks the first monthly job decline since late 2020.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%, a reminder that the glossy headline number is no longer masking the cracks underneath. The U.S. has added fewer than 600,000 jobs so far in 2025. Outside of the pandemic, that’s the weakest start to a year since the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Healthcare is the only sector keeping payroll growth positive — adding nearly 47,000 jobs in August — while government jobs shrank by 15,000 and manufacturing lost 12,000. As one economist put it: “If America wasn’t getting older and sicker, we’d be staring at a negative payroll print.”

This report also comes on the heels of President Trump firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after July’s ugly revisions. His new nominee will now oversee a jobs report process that’s become a political flashpoint. Meanwhile, Trump himself wasted no time blaming Jerome Powell for being “too late” on rate cuts.

The bottom line: Job creation has slowed to a crawl — averaging just ~27,000 per month since May — sealing the case for a Fed rate cut later this month. Companies aren’t yet laying off workers en masse, but they’re hiring so cautiously that the risk of a stall-out recession is rising fast. Want more insights like this in your inbox every week? Subscribe to our newsletter below ⬇️

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